This blog is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Strå, kvist, gren...

Straw, twig, branch...

These were among the materials that formed the foundation of human culture.

This morning I picked up an old notebook which I brought back from Sweden and in which I had written notes about a revolution in education based upon crafts. I had been looking for a notebook to keep at my bedside to record dreams, as part of an assignment for a Jung study group, but I put this one back on my desk as the notes seemed important enough to look at again.

Today I had classes with the 4th, 5th and 6th grade students and high school. The elementary students worked on their sand boxes and the high school students made tools. A wood handled stone tool is shown above. Dax used raw hide strips they tanned themselves to make the leather wrap to attach the stone to wood.

About Me

I have been a self-employed woodworker in Eureka Springs, Arkansas since 1976. I live with my wife Jean on a wooded hillside overlooking our beautiful historic community.
In addition to work in my wood shop, I teach children at the Clear Spring School in a program called "The Wisdom of the Hands." My 10th book, Tiny Boxes by Taunton Press in November 2016. I also write for Fine Woodworking and other woodworking magazines.
My resume can be downloaded at
www.dougstowe.com/resume.doc